They say the squeaky wheel gets the grease, and Democrats have by far squeaked the loudest the past several years. While undermining the war effort with all their might, they have screamed, more than squeaked, that the war is lost, the surge can’t work, won’t work, isn’t working.

While leaking national security secrets and trying to create scandal out of the lawful defense of the nation, they have screamed that General Petraeus is a liar and a traitor.

While blocking health care reforms that would make Americans better able to afford healthcare, they have screamed that we must make even more people dependant on the government for their healthcare — precisely the formula that has resulted in the skyrocketing price of medicine we now seek to address.

While blocking each and every attempt to increase domestic energy production and update infrastructure, and then increasing punative taxes and regulation on energy producers, they have wailed about the price of energy and our dependence on foreign sources of oil. And on, and on, and on…

And while I congratulate President Bush for not sinking to their level, and for keeping his campaign pledge to “bring a new tone” to Washington, the result has been that Democrats ceaseless barrage of demagoguery, lies, false accusations and histrionics has gone largely unanswered. But a lie oft repeated becomes truth as they say. And in the absence of self defense, people are left with only the lies to believe. If you don’t defend yourself against your accusers, people can only assume the accusers are right.

This has been the biggest failure of the Bush Presidency.

And the result has been a Democrat congress, the strong possibility of a Democrat presidency, and all that entails. The promised biggest tax hikes in history, over $900 billion or $1 trillion in promised new spending (depending on which candidate becomes the Democrat nominee), the governmental take-over of the health care industry, protectionism, price controls, massive amounts of promised new regulation, the dishonestly named “fairness” doctrine, real economic hard times, and outsourcing at unprecedented levels.

So yes, America is absolutely heading in the wrong direction: a liberal one.